The Expeditions Commission

The Expedition Commission works to develop and support the practice of mountaineering in remote areas. One of our most important tasks is to provide information to expedition teams about permits, fees, and outstanding issues in popular expedition areas. You can find this information in our activity section

Improving regulations

We also lobby authorities in host countries to improve regulations for expeditions. Many mountaineers feel that access restrictions are too bureaucratic and expedition fees too high in large parts of the Himalayas. This prevents mountaineers from going on expeditions, as well as limiting the opportunities for local people to make a living from providing services to visitors.

Our goal is not to stop all regulations of expeditions, but to promote fair laws which benefits both mountaineers and hosts. For example we have strongly recommended that governments create regulations which protect the working conditions of local staff such as porters, guides and cooks.
However we also want to make it easier for mountaineers and climbers to go on expeditions. Therefore we believe that governments should open up more areas and peaks, simplify regulations and reduce fees where possible. We work together with national mountaineering associations to achieve this.

Ethics

We also want to minimise the negative impact mountaineers have on local culture and natural environment. We strongly encourage good mountaineering ethics and have developed an Ethical Code for Expeditions and a Recommended Code of Practice for High Altitude Guided Commercial Expeditions.

You can find our mission statement here and a list of our members here.